Mark F. Speakman—Fraud Scheme

Mark F. Speakman, of Grove City, Ohio, allegedly orchestrated a $1.1 million investment fraud scheme, according to Documents from the Southern District of Ohio for the U.S. Attorney’s Office currently under review by attorneys Jason Kane and James Booker.

Speakman, according to said Documents, allegedly made moves to defraud clients by engaging in acts of misappropriation.

Speakman, who was reportedly a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial from 2000 through 2015, allegedly influenced clients to take their cash out of Ameriprise accounts and then purportedly sink the funds into an entity known as Centrax, the Justice Department Documents notes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office further alleges that Centrax was a phony real estate investment trust in actuality.

Speakman, overall, took approximately $870,000 from seven victims of the real estate scheme and used the cash for his own personal expenses rather than investing in real estate, according to Documents from the Southern District of Ohio for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Mark F. Speakman Allegedly Convinced Clients and Family Members to Invest Money in Gold Coins in a Purported Attempt to Pay Back Previous Investors, a Telltale Sign of a Ponzi Scheme

Mark F. Speakman allegedly went so far as to convince other clients and even family members to invest in gold coins in order to siphon cash in a purported attempt to pay back earlier investors, according to Documents from the Southern District of Ohio for the U.S. Attorney’s Office presently being examined by attorneys Jason Kane and James Booker.

Said documents from the Justice Department go onto outline that Speakman allegedly took in an exact total of $1,192,450 from clients in a purported attempt to further advance his scheme, said Documents note.

The IRS has also gotten involved in the case, and noted that Speakman allegedly failed to report $275,000 of income which was reportedly brought in due to fraudulent activity, according to the aforementioned documents.

Furthermore, from 2002 until 2014, the IRS alleges that Speakman left them $300,000 short, said Documents report.

Speakman has plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud, money laundering, and filing false income tax returns with the IRS, according to Documents from the Southern District of Ohio for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

It should be noted that, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that wire fraud is a crime punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment; money laundering is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and filing a false income tax return is a crime punishable by up to three years of prison time.

In sum, and as part of his offered guilty plea, Speakman allegedly agreed to pay almost $1.2 million in restitution to the victims of his investment fraud scheme, according to the aforementioned Documents.

Securities Lawyers Investigating

The Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane securities lawyers often represent investors who lose money as a result of alleged fraud schemes and are currently investigating Mark F. Speakman’s alleged fraud scheme. They take most cases of this type on a contingency fee basis and advance the case costs, and only get paid for their fees and costs out of money they recover for their clients.

Investors who believe they lost money as a result of investigating Mark Speakman’s alleged fraud scheme may contact the securities lawyers at Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane, Jason Kane or James Booker, for a free no-obligation evaluation of their recovery options, at (585) 310-5140 or via e-mail at arosca@prwlegal.com or jbooker@prwlegal.com.

In our legal system, every person is innocent until and unless found guilty by a court of law or a tribunal. Whenever we reference “allegations” or charges that are “alleged,” such allegations or charges have not been proven, and are merely accusations, not findings of fault, as of the date of the blog. We do not have, nor do we undertake, a duty to continue to monitor or follow cases about which we report, and/or to publish subsequent blogs regarding various developments that may occur in such cases. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research regarding any such cases and any developments that may or may not have occurred in such cases.

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